Tomi Vaisanen Unkai Midboss
Image: Tomi Väisänen

While the end credits of Konami's stunning SNES shmup Axelay promised a sequel, we sadly never got one – and the game remains a true one-of-a-kind thanks to its gorgeous visuals, fantastic level design and brilliant music.

Someone else who is clearly a huge fan is Housemarque's Tomi Väisänen. When he's not serving as the studio's principal artist and working on titles like the wonderful Returnal, he likes to flex his creative muscles with a range of artwork – and we've only just discovered (thanks to the Twitter account Shmup Database) that he has previously turned his attention towards Axelay.

You can check out Väisänen's other work on his Artstation account.

Tomi Vaisanen Level 3 Midboss
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Level2 Colony Enterance
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Towbar Attack
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Tralieb Colony Structures
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Unkai Arachnatron
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Level6 Final Boss Veinion
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Level 6 Fleet Front
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen Level6 Midboss
Image: Tomi Väisänen
Tomi Vaisanen End Screen
Image: Tomi Väisänen

[source artstation.com]